Sounders FC 2 is set for a rematch with Western Conference rival LA Galaxy II on Saturday, June 3 (7:00 p.m. PT | TICKETS) at Starfire Stadium. Los Dos will look to avenge their home loss from back in April when the Rave Green went on the road and dismantled the Galaxy’s second team 2-1 behind goals from Nouhou and Felix Chenkam.
The previous meeting between these two sides provided plenty of excitement from the opening whistle. And while S2 has gone on to develop an attractive, attacking brand of soccer, Los Dos continue to struggle when it comes to generating offense.
For most of the season, LA II has lined up in an empty-bucket 4-4-2 -- similar to the Galaxy -- with varying degrees of success. One constant is the role of the wide midfielders, who tend to drift inward and essentially operate as additional central midfielders. While this translates to plenty of possession in the middle-third of the field, it often leaves the full backs isolated on the flanks and starves the strikers of the service they require.
S2’s style of play and personnel is perfectly suited for this match-up. LA will try to dominate possession in the central channel, exactly where Ray Saari and Francisco Narbon tend to operate. All nine goals LA has scored this season came from an extended spell of possession leading to a penetrating pass into the box. Saari and Narbon shielding the back four and cutting out those passing lanes will restrict the Californians to stagnant possession and plenty of lateral passes.
Although S2 likes to control possession and build attacks out of the back, this match will be decided by counter-attacks. Since Los Dos like to set the tempo of the match by dominating possession, they tend to push numbers higher up the pitch to compress the size of the field. If they do send their back line forward in support of the attack, then there will be acres of space to exploit on the counter. If they don’t, then S2’s attacking midfielders -- like Zach Mathers, David Olsen and Charles Renken -- can sit in the gaps between LA’s midfield and defense, providing time and space to pick out killer passes.
Renken Time
After a cameo appearance off the bench in his debut against Sacramento Republic at the weekend, the upcoming tilt with LA II could be Charles Renken’s coming out party. In his 45-minute spell the new signing managed to carve out three chances from open play, including an assist on Olsen’s goal, and showcased his dazzling dribbling ability.
Since the Los Dos outside backs tend to be isolated on the flanks, largely because the outside mids pinch infield, Renken will get plenty of opportunities to do what he does best -- drive at defenders and beat them 1v1. Anticipate plenty of show-stopping moves and quality service from the 23-year-old winger.
Work The Ball Wide
They key to this match is for the Rave Green to take advantage of the tucked-in wide midfielders for Los Dos. Shen S2 wins back the ball they need to play as quickly as possible to shift the ball out to one of the wings, largely because LA struggles to defend service from wide areas. In the last three games alone they’ve conceded 54 crosses from open play.
Without defensive support from the wide midfielders, playing the ball out wide stretches LA’s back line, creating massive gaps in the channels for penetrating runs and through balls. If the defense decides to stay compact centrally, then guys like Irvin Parra, Olsen and Renken will have ample time to pump in tons of crosses. These two strategies -- crosses and through balls between a stretched out defense -- amounted for 25 of the 34 chances LA has conceded in its last three games.
Coach’s Take
“LA II is a good team. They’ve been in a good run of form lately. They lost against Phoenix last week, but before that I thought they were playing well. They’ve added a few guys that have strengthened them. But it’s LA, it’s always going to be a good team. They have good players, so we have to expect a good match. We beat them down at their place earlier in the season so I’m sure that’s in the back of their mind and they’ll be prepared and ready.
The boys are anxious to get back out on the pitch because of how we gave up that goal in the last ten seconds last week.” -- S2 Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson.
